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ITCWeb: ITC Research Computing Support Newsletter - January 2007

ITC Research Computing Support Newsletter - January 2007

This is the January 2007 newsletter for ITC Research Computing Support. If you have any questions or concerns regarding the information presented here, please contact ITC Research Computing Support by emailing Res-Consult@virginia.edu, or phoning either the Research Computing Lab in Brown Library at 243-8799 or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library at 243-8800.

Contents

Go to the index of previous Research Computing Support Newsletters

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Join ITC in deciding its next research computing purchase January 30 at 10:00 a.m.

You're Invited!

ITC would like feedback from researchers on how best to spend this year's research computing hardware allocation.

Join us on Tuesday, January 30, at 10:00 a.m. for a short, town hall-style meeting moderated by Deputy CIO, Mike McPherson, to discuss our spending priorities for hardware acquisitions. In a collaborative decision-making process, we will outline the options and then solicit input from you.

In particular, we'll share the Linux cluster purchase options in relation to the hardware we already have, and then discuss how each option may affect your work.

Please join us at the Commonwealth Room, Newcomb Hall, on January 30, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Share your thoughts on what ITC's research computing spending priorities should be for this fiscal year!

If you can't make the meeting, please share your feedback with Tim Tolson, Manager of ITC Research Computing Support, at 243-6592 or TTolson@Virginia.EDU. Please send us your thoughts by Monday, February 5, 2007.

To learn about the current ITC computing platforms available for research computing, please visit our Web page:
http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/hardware.html

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Software and Hardware..........

Downtime for Head and Storage Nodes of the Birch Cluster (lc1.itc) on January 25

The head node for the birch cluster, (birch.itc or lc1.itc) and the storage node for the birch cluster must be shut down for maintenance on Thursday, January 25, between 5:00 and 5:30 p.m. The shutdown will be brief on both servers. Jobs running on the birch cluster will not be interrupted by this downtime. Any job which uses storage from the storage node will be delayed while the storage is unavailable, but should continue once the storage node is back up.

This planned downtime is necessary in order to improve and enhance our services to the University community. ITC apologizes for any inconvenience.

Specific questions about the upgrade as well as general questions concerning the use of the Birch cluster should be directed to ITC Research Computing Support; email us at Res-Consult@virginia.edu or by telephoning or visiting either the Research Computing Lab (243-8799) in the Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clark Hall or the Scholars' Lab (243-8800) in Alderman Library, 4th floor.

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Matlab 7.3 (Release 2006b) Now Available

ITC is now distributing CDs for Matlab 7.3 (Release 2006b) for the Windows (XP/2000), Linux, and Mac OS X (10.3.8 or above; but NOT Mac-Intel) platforms from either the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clark Hall or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library, 4th floor.

The MathWorks provides a beta version of Matlab 7.3 for use on Intel-based Macs. Further information and the downlaod of the beta version can be accessed at
     http://www.mathworks.com/support/faq/macintel.html

Matlab 7.3 will become the default version of Matlab on ITC's Sun Solaris and Linux platforms and be available in the public computing labs (both Windows and Macs) on January 17, 2007.

Matlab 7.3 includes support for Windows XP 64-bit edition, enabling Windows users to handle much larger data sets. There several new features in the development environment, programming, and mathematics. In addition, many Matlab toolboxes have been upgraded since the release of Matlab 2006a (7.2) in March, 2006.

Descriptions of the upgrades in Matlab 7.3 and various toolboxes can be found online at
     http://www.mathworks.com/products/new_products/latest_features.html

Further information on how to access and use Matlab can be found on the Research Computing Services website at
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/matlab

Specific questions about the upgrade as well as general questions concerning the use of Matlab should be directed to ITC Research Computing Support; email us at Res-Consult@virginia.edu or by telephoning or visiting either the Research Computing Lab (243-8799) in the Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clark Hall or the Scholars' Lab (243-8800) in Alderman Library, 4th floor.

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Additional Software Available via Download from the ITC Software Licensing Website

We have created downloadable versions of the following ITC site-licensed software packages:

You may obtain these packages by logging in to the ITC Software Licensing website at
     http://web.virginia.edu/rescomp

Select the software and follow the instructions for downloading, licensing, and installation. If you have any questions regarding these downloadable packages, please contact ITC Research Computing Support at either of their two locations: the Scholars' Lab, Alderman Library, West Wing, 4th floor, phone: 434-243-8800, or the Research Computing Lab, Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clark Hall, phone: 434-243-8799,

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SPSS 15 for Windows and SPSS 13 for Macintosh Now Available

ITC Research Computing Support now has SPSS 15 for Windows and SPSS 13 for Macintosh ready for distribution. You may download them from the ITC Software Licensing website at
     http://www.web.virginia.edu/rescomp

or pick up a copy of the CD at either the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library, or from the Research Computing Lab in Brown Science and Engineering Library, Clark Hall.

SPSS 13 for Macintosh will, unfortunately, not work on Macintoshes equipped with the new Intel Processor.

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Spring 2007 Software Offerings in ITC and Library Computers

The following research computing software was upgraded for the Spring 2007 semester in all ITC Labs and Classrooms:

For a complete listing of all software available in the ITC labs and classrooms, please visit
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/labs

Please contact ITC Research Computing Support by emailing Res-Consult@virginia.edu or telephoning The Scholars' Lab at 434-243-8800, or The Research Computing Lab, at 434-243-8799, if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for other upgrades.

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The Distance Procedure in SASŪ

The DISTANCE procedure in SAS/STAT computes various measures of distance, dissimilarity, or similarity between the observations (rows) of a SAS data set. These proximity measures are stored as a lower triangular matrix or a square matrix in an output data set (depending on the SHAPE= option) that can then be used as input to the CLUSTER, MDS, and MODECLUS procedures. The input data set may contain numeric or character variables, or both, depending on which proximity measure is used. PROC DISTANCE also provides various nonparametric and parametric methods for standardizing variables. Distance matrices are used frequently in data mining, genomics, marketing, financial analysis, management science, education, chemistry, psychology, biology, and various other fields.

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SASŪ Compatibility with Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 Not Validated

Currently, SAS does not support Microsoft's Internet Explorer 7 (released in fourth quarter 2006) because it has not been tested or validated for compatibility with SAS 9.1.3 and earlier releases, nor has it been tested with any related SAS client software.

If you install Internet Explorer 7 and you experience unpredictable behavior with SAS 9.1.3 and SAS client products, you should change back to Internet Explorer 6. When you un-install Internet Explorer 7, Internet Explorer 6 is still available on your machine. You can go back to Internet Explorer 6 by following these steps:

Note: Internet Explorer 7 is currently distributed via Windows Automatic Updates. If your computer is using Automatic Updates, then Internet Explorer 7 will be provided in an update. However, Windows will notify you before installing Internet Explorer 7. This gives you the opportunity to accept or decline the installation.

Contact the ITC Help Desk (924-3731) if you have further questions about the differences between the versions of Internet Explorer or automatic updating of your Windows system.

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A Reminder About SAS Enterprise Guide

Both new and experienced users of SAS 9.1.3 for Windows are reminded of the advantages to installing SAS Enterprise Guide along with SAS. SAS Enterprise Guide is a powerful Microsoft Windows client application that provides a guided mechanism to exploit the power of SAS and publish dynamic results throughout the organization.

SAS Enterprise Guide is available for download through the ITC Licensing Database at
     http://web.virginia.edu/rescomp/

To learn more about SAS Enterprise Guide at U.Va., visit
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/sas/eguide.html

A vendor factsheet in PDF is avalailable at:
     http://www.sas.com/technologies/bi/query_reporting/guide/factsheet.pdf

Contact ITC Research Computing Support if you have additional questions; email us at Res-Consult@Virginia.edu or telephone or visit either the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library (243-8799) or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library (243-8800).

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Wolfram Workbench 1.0: A Mathematica Integrated Development Environment

Wolfram Research has released Wolfram Workbench 1.0, an integrated development environment (IDE) that makes Mathematica and other Wolfram products ideal for developing large-scale technical solutions. This product is particularly useful for teams of programmers, enabling developers to view and work on complex projects more efficiently.

Key features in Workbench enable users to:

For more information about Workbench, visit the website at
     http://www.wolfram.com/workbench

Wolfram Workbench is available to Premier Service customers, which includes Mathematica users at the University of Virginia. You can download a free copy now for any U.Va.-owned computer on-Grounds on which you've installed Mathematica through the site license. The U.Va. Mathematica site license number will be needed to download Wolfram Workbench and can be accessed through your Mathematica registration in the ITC licensing database at
     https://www.web.virginia.edu/rescomp

Interested individuals can request their free copy of Wolfram Workbench 1.0 here:
     http://www.wolfram.com/services/premiersupport/workbench.cgi

Further information on how to access and use Mathematica can be found on the Research Computing Services Web page at
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/mathematica/

Questions concerning the use of Mathematica should be directed to ITC Research Computing Support; email us at Res-Consult@virginia.edu or telephone or visit either the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library (243-8799) or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library (243-8800).

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Events and Announcements..........

Spring Colloquia Underway

The Research Computing and Scholars' Labs will be hosting a series of colloquia this upcoming Spring semester. These talks will be held from 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. on every other Wednesday, alternating between the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library in Clark Hall and the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library, 4th Floor. All are invited to attend, no pre-registration is required. Snacks and drinks are provided.

January 24, 3:30 p.m. in the Scholars' Lab, Alderman Library: Easy Ways to Share Your Maps on the Internet by Chris Gist, GIS Specialist in the Digital Scholarship Services group, Alderman Library.
Hey, you ever used ArcGIS and thought 'Wow, this map would be cool online.' However, you then realized that with the overhead of setting up and maintaining a GIS server, it wasn't worth it. Well now, you can get your maps online easily with HTML ImageMapper, an extension for ArcGIS, and easily publish your maps to the Internet. HTML ImageMapper is the easiest, fastest and most affordable way to transform your ArcGIS maps and data into great looking interactive maps for the Internet.

February 7, 3:30 p.m. in the Research Computing Lab, Brown Science & Engineering Library, Clark Hall, "U.Va. Herbarium Digitization Project: A model for the virtual distribution and preservation of valuable scientific collections," presented by Eric S. Nagy, Ph.D., of Mountain Lake Biological Station and Department of Biology, and Emily Behler, University of Virginia undergraduate student.

The value of museum, library and other research collections has historically been limited to those with physical access. State of the art imaging techniques, database tools, and the explosion of Internet capability now permits global access to unique and invaluable scientific collections of all kinds.

An exciting collaboration between U.Va.'s Brown Science and Engineering Library and Mountain Lake Biological Station in cooperation with Rare Materials Digital Services is leading the way in setting standards for digitizing and disseminating invaluable herbarium collection data, and in producing a research-grade on-line tool for conservation biologists, evolutionary biologists, systematists, ecologists, and botanists racing to understand biodiversity and how it is changing.

We are planning a variety of topics presented by U.Va. faculty, students and staff. If you have a topic you'd like covered, a project on which you'd like to present or have any questions about these talks, please contact us by emailing Res-Consult@virginia.edu or telephoning or visiting either the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library (243-8799) or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library (243-8800).

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Mathematica Free Online Seminars

The Wolfram Education Group has begun offering free online seminars to Mathematica customers worldwide. Taught by experienced Wolfram Research staff, presentations are given twice weekly. The seminar series began with S10: A Technical Overview of Mathematica located at
     http://www.wolfram.com/weg/seminars

For a list of dates and to enroll, visit:
     http://www.wolfram.com/weg/calendar

Further information on how to access and use Mathematica can be found on the Research Computing Services Web page at
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/research/mathematica/

Please contact ITC Research Computing Support if you have questions by emailing Res-Consult@Virginia.edu or by telephoning or visiting either the Research Computing Lab in the Brown Science and Engineering Library (243-8799) or the Scholars' Lab in Alderman Library (243-8800).

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Stay Informed About SAS Users Group Activities!

SAS Institute has many exciting SAS user group events planned for 2007 - and they want to keep you up-to-date on the activities that will interest you most. To help them do that, please visit and log in with your existing SAS profile or create a new one at
     http://sems.sas.com/bess/get?id=559.1:-n81zun:ey2&RZNVY=gswg@ivetvavn.rqh&nccvq=5344

Stay informed and enjoy the unique opportunities for networking, learning and professional development that only SAS users group events can offer. Mark your calendar for the SAS Global Forum (formerly SUGI) that will be held April 16-19, 2007, in Orlando. They look forward to seeing you at one of these upcoming events! (Posted by: Michael H. Smith, SAS Users Group Support, Manager, SAS Institute).

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SESUG Website Updated with Presentation Lineup and FAQ

The SESUG website has been recently updated with some new details about the conference.

But if your question is not answered here, feel free to contact the conference chairs, Marje Fecht at AcademicChair2006 at sesug.org or Deborah Skinner at OperationChair2006 at sesug.org.

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ITC Announcement/SMTP Auth available on the CMS

ITC is pleased to announce that a function called SMTP Auth has been enabled on the Central Mail Service. CMS users who access their email accounts from off Grounds no longer need connect with POP or IMAP first before sending email messages. To find out more about how to use SMTP Auth and whether or not you need it, visit
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/desktop/email/smtpauth

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ITC Announcement/New MyGroups Service

Ever wish you could create an online group of people just once and then use it across a variety of online applications and services here at U.Va.? ITC's convenient new group management service, MyGroups, makes this possible.

Use the MyGroups Management Interface (https://mygroups.virginia.edu) to create groups and then use them to...

  • email group members
  • manage access and permissions to your files on ITC-managed servers (including Home Directory)
  • control access to Web services and sites such as a research lab's internal website or a department's resource reservation system
In the near future, you'll also be able to use MyGroups in OracleCalendar and other University-wide Web applications.

Want to know more about MyGroups? See the "About MyGroups" website at http://www.itc.virginia.edu/mygroups/.

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ITC Announcement/More Improvements in Spam Protection

In November, ITC rolled out improved protection against spam email for people with accounts on the CMS (Central Mail service). On January 13, 2007, ITC extended that protection to all email accounts ending in "@virginia.edu", as well as to all mailing lists on the Mailman list server (list.mail.virginia.edu). ITC is also working with individual departments to add spam protection for their departmental servers in the near future.

ITC also retired the greylisting service on January 13. The new system is much more effective than greylisting at eliminating spam, and it does not delay legitimate messages. ITC's new appliances enjoy a much higher spam-eliminating success rate without the costs associated with greylisting.

If you have any questions regarding the retirement of greylisting, please contact the ITC Help Desk at 924-3731.

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ITC Announcement/ITC Improving File Transfer Security on Servers

If you currently use unsecure FTP (file transfer protocol) software - like WS-FTP, an older version of Fetch, the Dreamweaver 3 Web editor, or a Web cam - to upload and download files to blue.unix or www.web.virginia.edu, you will need to switch to a secure FTP product before February 13, 2007. On this date, ITC will begin phasing out file transfer programs that are not secure in their access to our servers. If you need to make the switch to a secure FTP product, ITC will have already notified you by email.

More information is available on the website at
     http://www.itc.virginia.edu/pubs/ads/unsecureftp/

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ITC Announcement/Retirement of Windows 2000 Software from Software Central on Aug. 1, 2007

The software downloads available from Software Central for systems running the Windows 2000 operating system will be removed from Software Central on August 1, 2007. ITC is no longer testing versions of new software on this older platform, and will be ending user support of this platform on August 1, 2007. If you are using Windows 2000 on a University-owned system, you should consider upgrading to a newer Windows operating system like XP; contact your Local Support Partner or the ITC Help Desk for more information.

ITC Software Central provides members of the University of Virginia community site-licensed software. Software for Windows XP and Macintosh OS X 10.3 (and higher) will still be available for downloading.

If you have questions regarding this change, please contact the ITC Help Desk at 924-3731 during posted hours.

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ITC Announcement/Retirement of Mac OS X 10.2.8 Offerings from Software Central on Aug. 1, 2007

The software downloads available from ITC's Software Central for Macintosh systems running OS X, versions 10.2.8 and lower, will be removed from Software Central on August 1, 2007. ITC is no longer testing versions of new software on this older platform, and will be ending user support of this platform on August 1, 2007.

ITC Software Central provides members of the University of Virginia community site-licensed software. Software for Windows XP and Macintosh OS X versions 10.3 and higher will still be available for downloading.

If you have questions regarding this change, please contact the ITC Help Desk at 924-3731 during posted hours.

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Now is the time to encourage your colleagues and students to join us and learn about research computing support at U.Va. We only send out an e-mail once or twice a month to this mail list. Anyone can subscribe to this "itc-research" mail list via the Web page at:
http://list.mail.virginia.edu/mailman/listinfo/itc-research

Please encourage your colleagues to subscribe to our Research Computing mail list today!

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